In the dream scenario for the Yankees, Cliff Lee would have joined his partner in Cy Young-winning ace-hood, CC Sabathia, atop the rotation and Andy Pettitte would have returned for one more championship run.

Had that transpired — had the trio of southpaw stalwarts been assembled — then the Yankees would be doing a victory lap now. They would have created an antidote to counter the potent lefty bats of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez joining the Red Sox.

Lee rejected the largest total bid, from the Yankees, despite the expectation that he was going to follow the last penny as a free agent. Instead, he so enjoyed the Brotherly Love of being a Phillie in 2009 that he covertly worked his way back to Philadelphia.

Pettitte told friends that if Lee became a Yankee he was more likely to push his aging, aching body and push away his family for yet another shot at a ring. Instead, the pull of home was greater than the $12 million-plus the Yankees made clear to Pettitte was available for 2011. So Wednesday he called Hal Steinbrenner to say he was retiring.

That essentially moved the Yankees into NCAA tournament mode. They will try to survive and advance with myriad options in the Nos. 4-5 slots until July in hopes that one of their young starters has blossomed into a solution and/or a quality starter has become available in the trade market.

“People would love to have their problems,” an AL East executive said. “On paper they are still about as good as you want to see. As long as your farm system is deep — and theirs is — then the division is not going to get away from them.”

That is a bit of perspective, a reminder that the Yankees’ lineup and bullpen, especially with Rafael Soriano’s acquisition, should both be among the best in the majors — and good enough to support a dubious back end of the rotation.

As for the front end, the Yankees will hope Sabathia challenges for yet another Cy Young; A.J. Burnett, under the tutelage of new pitching coach Larry Rothschild, performs no worse than he did in his 2009 Yankees debut season; and Phil Hughes puts together a full season that resembles his 2010 first half. If all of that occurs, then the Yankees could probably go with Ren and Stimpy in the Nos. 4-5 rotation slots.

But that is a slim margin for error. Sabathia is now, by far, the most important player on the team. If he stumbles physically or in performance then the 2011 season goes on life support. And, really, do you like any plan that involves counting heavily on Burnett?

Privately, the Yankees do not anticipate a quality starter becoming available between now and Opening Day. My hunch is they are waiting for the price of Kevin Millwood or Jeremy Bonderman — the best of what is left on the free-agent market — to fall to a more acceptable level ($2 million?) to provide a back-end guy more assured of delivering major league innings than what they have.

For now, the Yankees have eight competitors vying for the final two rotation spots: Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Sergio Mitre, and prospects Ivan Nova, Andrew Brackman, Hector Noesi, David Phelps and Adam Warren.

But the auditions are not going to end at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Don’t be surprised if, for example, the Yankees begin by not putting pressure on their prospects and, instead, go with veterans such as Colon and Garcia with Nova as the long reliever. Nova would, in essence, be primed to step in when Colon and/or Garcia inevitably needs to be released, and someone such as Noesi would then become the long man with the same concept: Next man up.

I suspect the Yanks will rotate frequently, searching for short-term solutions with survival in mind. Maybe no quality starter will come on the market. But did anyone imagine that Lee, Roy Oswalt and Dan Haren would all be moved last July? Did anyone, at this time last year, think Jaime Garcia or Mat Latos would become two of the best starters of 2010? So maybe a Noesi or a Warren will emerge — or the Yankees will unshackle top prospects Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances.

For now, though, spring training is near and the rotation dream scenario is completely dead. So how was this winter anything but a Yankees nightmare?